Solanco rushes past top-seed New Oxford to advance to first district title game
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
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(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Jeff Reinhart — LNP/Lancasteronline
NEW OXFORD — Start spreading the news.
For the first time in program history, Solanco will play for a District 3 football championship.
Go crazy, Quarryville.
| Final | |
| Solanco | 43 |
| New Oxford | 12 |
The Golden Mules punched their ticket to the Class 5A final in dominating fashion Friday, doing what they do best. Win the trench battles up front. Run the ball. Wear teams down with a blue-collar work ethic. Check, check and check.
Tack on three interceptions, four fourth-down conversions and six touchdowns in six drives, and it was a memorable performance.
Johnny Garcia rushed for 199 yards and three TDs, Chase Sensenig had a TD pass and a TD run and Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 champ Solanco steamrolled New Oxford 43-12 in a semifinal.
“We’re still playing,” said Solanco line linchpin Tyler Kreider. “We’re very thankful for that. Very, very grateful.”
Solanco’s foe in the final next Friday is one of the true Goliaths in District 3. Any class. Any era.
Bishop McDevitt, which owns 18 district titles, including the last four in a row, beat Exeter 42-0 to take care of its end of the equation. The Crusaders are the reigning PIAA Class 5A champs.
Solanco and McDevitt will tangle next Friday for district gold at a site and time to be announced.
“It’s crazy,” said Garcia, who ran wild against New Oxford. “The tears were rolling down. We’ve faced a lot of adversity to get here. It’s an honor to make it to the championship.”
“School history,” Solanco coach Tony Cox said. “We’ve never been this far before. It’s a tribute to the seniors on the team and all the hard work they’ve put in. We’re very happy.”
You name it, it went right for Solanco against the previously unbeaten Colonials. The only real hiccup came on the first play from scrimmage, when New Oxford’s Alex Brown ripped off a 65-yard run to set up a first-and-goal.
The top-seeded Colonials (11-1) had a quick 6-0 lead on Brown’s 3-yard run. After that, it was pretty much all Solanco.
The fourth-seeded Mules (11-1) countered with an 80-yard, eight-minute drive — vintage Solanco — with Garcia barreling in from 6 yards out for the first of his three TDs.
Later, Solanco’s Noah Gote had a big stick on defense to force a turnover on downs and Garcia barreled 8 yards for a TD to make it 14-6.
Solanco’s O-line was fantastic. That group — Gote, Kreider, Evan Bennethum, Desmond Ferguson and A.J. Haag, all juniors — paved the way for the Mules to gouge out 358 rushing yards on 50 carries.
“The O-line was great, and they always have so much fun playing,” Garcia said. “I have so much fun playing behind them. They were physical. They were laughing in the huddle after a pancake block. I fed off of that energy. We needed to get the ground game going, and we did.”
“I thought we were pretty dominant along the line,” Kreider said. “Our running game was working really well.”
Solanco’s defense set up a pair of second-half scores.
Isaiah Wright, who had a pick-6 last week in the quarterfinals against Warwick, intercepted a pass to set up Kris Burgos-Wise’s 8-yard TD sprint. And Kali Hines’ interception set up Sensenig’s 13-yard TD run.
Earlier, Sensenig zipped a 17-yard TD pass to Wesley Bard during Solanco’s 22-0 second-half barrage.
Sensenig made all the right reads in the Mules’ powerful triple-option attack. He rushed for 82 yards and presided over an offense that didn’t turn the ball over.
Tristan Brown, who booted six touchbacks and five extra points for Solanco, sealed it with an interception in the waning minutes.
“Our kids never gave up,” Cox said. “We have hard-nosed kids who love to battle and they love the challenge. And they love to win. That’s what we did.”
Convincingly. And the Mules made some program history in the process.
